A silicon-based multi-junction solar cell with an efficiency of 30.2% has been manufactured by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems and EV Group, the two organisations said.

Known as a III-V/Si multi-junction solar cell, it consists of a sequence of stacked subcells made of gallium-indium-phosphide (GaInP), gallium-arsenide (GaAs) and silicon (Si), which collectively span an absorption range of 300-1180nm.